Gold targets found at Waitekauri site
Minerals Exploration has revealed a string of new gold targets at its Waitekauri project in New Zealand after reviewing historical data at the nearby Sovereign prospect. The company is currently advancing a four-hole drill program at the Jubilee South site, with the first two holes already completed. Following this work, the group intends to drill a series of high-grade targets at Sovereign, located immediately to the south of the current drill area.
Historical data highlights parallel zones
Minerals Exploration (ASX:MEX) says a compilation of historical data has identified a series of parallel mineralised zones that represent immediate priority targets at Sovereign. Past drilling at the site returned several high-grade gold strikes, which in some cases remain open along strike and down dip.
Results included 17m at 4.4g/t Au from 67m, 6m at 6.7g/t Au from 138m, and 8m at 3.9g/t Au from 108m. Underground channel sampling from the 1980s also delivered several significant assays, including 43m at 2.30g/t Au, 20m at 3.26g/t Au, and 115m at 3.64g/t Au.
Technical director Jason Beckton noted that continuous high grades from either underground channel samples or drilling results are preferable to individual rock-chips. He pointed out that historical reports from Amoco Minerals NZ in the mid 1980s highlighted that better mineralised zones are not necessarily associated with strong quartz veining but are often close to contacts between volcanic units. To that end, the company is completing a 3D model of contacts and mineralising fluid conduits or faults.
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Drilling momentum builds at Jubilee
Waitekauri covers 58km in the Hauraki goldfield and lies just 8km from OceanaGold’s +12Moz Waihi project. It also sits immediately along strike from OceanaGold’s 2.2Moz WKP deposit. The project area contains three priority exploration prospects—Jubilee, Scotia and Sovereign—within an 18km-long mineralised corridor hosting past workings and multiple gold targets.
The historical Jubilee mine produced about 29,000 ounces of gold and silver bullion at 48g/t Au+Ag. The four planned holes at Jubilee South are designed to test shallower sections of the high-grade gold system historically mined at Jubilee, whilst following up on underground channel sampling that served up 13m at 80g/t Au, 24m at 45g/t Au, and 23m at 42g/t Au.
Assays from the two completed holes remain pending, with the two other holes from the program expected to be concluded in the next couple of weeks. A diamond drill program at Sovereign is currently being finalised, with the initial campaign targeting about 1400m of drilling across seven holes, subject to regulatory approvals.
